Emotions run high at New Bedford School Committee meeting over proposed innovation schools

Tuesday

Jan 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 15, 2013 at 5:59 AM

NEW BEDFORD — Emotions continued to run high over the proposed innovation schools as people on both sides of the issue turned out in force at Monday night's School Committee meeting.

CHARIS ANDERSON

NEW BEDFORD — Emotions continued to run high over the proposed innovation schools as people on both sides of the issue turned out in force at Monday night's School Committee meeting.

About 12 people spoke about innovation schools — small, in-district schools that have autonomy from district policies in a range of areas — during the meeting's public comment period.

Two groups submitted plans last month for innovation schools, one of which would be located at Roosevelt Middle School and the second at Gomes Elementary School.

The next step in the process is for those groups to negotiate with the New Bedford Educators Association any necessary changes to the collective bargaining agreement the plans would require.

Many of those who spoke Monday night against the proposed schools were faculty members at Roosevelt Middle School, where one of the proposed innovation schools would be located were it to be approved.

They raised safety concerns, expressing unease at how middle school-aged children could safely share common spaces with much younger children who would be enrolled in the innovation school, and questions about how adding another school to the building would affect Roosevelt's students.

"It is my belief that the Esperanza School does not belong at any of our middle schools," said Deb Dixon, a health educator at Roosevelt, referencing the innovation school that would be located there. "The middle school years can be difficult ones. Hormones are constantly changing, and we are dealing with more behavior issues."

NBEA President Lou St. John pointed out that the city's teachers have, for years, been asking for many of the services and supports included in the innovation-school plans — only to be told that the district can't afford them.

"The difference is we've been asking for all of these services for all of our children and all of our teachers," he said.

Emma York, a sophomore at New Bedford High School, was one of a few people who spoke up in favor of the proposed schools. She argued the autonomies enjoyed by the schools would enable teachers to engage students in unconventional ways.

"We all learn in different ways," she said. "The personalized and autonomous aspects of the innovation schools will allow teachers to engage those parts of students that are sometimes lost in the shuffle."